Stem cell technology holds great promise for the treatment of a variety of human diseases that currently lack effective therapies. Identifying factors that control stem cell self-renewal is an important step in moving stem cell technology from the laboratory to the clinics. One factor that plays an important role in regulating this process is orphan nuclear receptor TLX. TLX is specifically expressed in mammalian brains and is essential to maintain adult neural stem cells in the undifferentiated and self-renewable state. The objective of this study is to uncover the regulatory cascade of TLX by identifying its downstream target genes and upstream regulators. This study will be critical to the implementation of neural stem cell-based cell replacement therapy for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and brain injuries. The results of this study will provide new insights into TLX signaling pathway and define novel elements that control neural stem cell maintenance and self-renewal. Each component of the TLX signaling network, either downstream target genes or upstream regulators, will be novel molecular targets for intervening neurodegenerative diseases. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]